I think it will hurt him for the AO (which I never thought he had an enormous shot of winning, anyway), but his break will keep fresh and prepared for the rest of the season. Hopefully, though, he'll get a good result, since he plans on playing significantly less this year than in seasons past.

Deppends how u see it.Last year it wasn`t a good preparation at all.He played Doha,but withdrew because of some back issues.So certainly he would take this year`s preparation without any matches over last year when he had some issues.
Also other players like Djokovic,Del Potro have played but only exhos so it`s a bit like Federer.U can`t tell anything until the proper competition starts.

I don't see how it's significantly less. He's only really skipping one major tournament, Miami, and replacing Basel with Rotterdam (he's only played both tournaments once, and that's in 2012).

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He's only got 14 stops on his schedule right now (not counting the WTF) and easily could pull out of a number of them (either of Rotterdam/Dubai, Halle, Shanghai or Shanghai). Last year he played 17, 16 the year before, and 18 the year before that. I would be surprised if he played any more than 15 events this year. I think he might actually play less than that. We'll see.

He's only got 14 stops on his schedule right now (not counting the WTF) and easily could pull out of a number of them (either of Rotterdam/Dubai, Halle, Shanghai or Shanghai). Last year he played 17, 16 the year before, and 18 the year before that. I would be surprised if he played any more than 15 events this year. I think he might actually play less than that. We'll see.

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Regarding the whole year a lot is results oriented.If he loses in an event early he easily could add another one to his schedule.For instance if he goes into IW and doesn`t do well he might still decide to go and play Miami or get a late WC into Monte Carlo a few weeks later.

He's only got 14 stops on his schedule right now (not counting the WTF) and easily could pull out of a number of them (either of Rotterdam/Dubai, Halle, Shanghai or Shanghai). Last year he played 17, 16 the year before, and 18 the year before that. I would be surprised if he played any more than 15 events this year. I think he might actually play less than that. We'll see.

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Regarding the whole year a lot is results oriented.If he loses in an event early he easily could add another one to his schedule.
For instance,if he happens to lose in R3 at IW i doubt he will take the whole time off till Madrid.He could still play Miami or add another claycourt event like Monte Carlo to his schedule.

I don't think it's an issue; his practices are pretty intense - and he does have over 1000 ATP/ITF/DC matches - not like he forgot how to play. This just slightly bumps up the chances he'll lose a set in the 1st 3 rounds.

I actually think he's put a new plan, or alternate one into action as regards no warm up tournament. He's been particularly clever in his career in respect of when/what to play, and it has indeed paid dividends.

And as for his draw, I personally feel it's better being a tough one for him, play him into shape. It's when he's been complacent in the past that he's had issues with his results. Perhaps it's tougher than he'd have liked, but I feel it will do him good when/if he progresses to the second week.

Tomic will be a major threat if Roger isn't near peak. Tomic's awkward balls require maximum commitment. You have to over power him and play with more risk. Look what happened to Novak when he wasn't in dog-fight mode.